Electronic bill presentment and payment system

ABSTRACT

A bill presentment and payment remittance system is configured for use over an electronic network, such as the Internet. The bill presentment and payment remittance system allows the biller to create a bill and payment remittance information in a format specified by the biller. The biller submits the bill and associated payment remittance information by electronically transmitting it over the Internet to the consumer. The consumer authenticates that the bill did indeed come from the indicated biller. The bill is presented in a user interface which provides a line-by-line itemization of the bill, along with a predefined dispute reasons which the consumer can check to challenge particular items on the bill. The bill can then be automatically or manually adjusted to reflect any disputed amounts. Payment of the bill is preferably in the form of a “direct debit check” that is formed by the consumer software using the billing and remittance information provided in the bill to automatically name the biller as the payee. The consumer completely controls the payment authorization, specifying the amount to be paid (either partial or full), and the date for the payment to be made, and the account from which the money will be drawn. The electronic payment and any dispute criteria are associated with the payment remittance information. The payment instruction and remittance information are then transmitted in the biller prescribed format back over the Internet to the biller. In this manner, the payment remittance information is automatically returned directly to the biller in the format that the biller chooses, without intervention by the consumer. The biller executes the payment instructions sent to it electronically by the consumer by sending them onto the biller&#39;s bank.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/459,219 filed Dec. 10, 1999, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/734,518 filed Oct. 18, 1996, which is now U.S.Pat. No. 6,070,150.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to electronic bill presentment and paymentremittance systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Millions of consumers and businesses pay for goods and services bycheck. In many instances, payment is made at a point of purchase, suchas during checkout at a grocery or office supply store, or followingdinner in a restaurant. For these point-of-purchase cases, the paymentis readily and easily associated with the goods or services provided.

Payment may also be made in response to a bill from the supplier of thegoods or servers. Consumers and businesses typically write checks eachmonth to pay bills for utilities, home mortgages and office rental,credit charge cards, and the like. In these bill payment cases, it ismuch more difficult to link the payment to the particular goods orservices provided by the supplier, particularly in view of the shearvolume of checks collected each month.

For convenience, the term “consumer” is used throughout to representboth a typical person consuming goods and services as well as a businessconsuming goods and services. FIG. 1 shows a traditional paper-basedbill presentment and remittance system 20. At the end of a billingcycle, a biller 22 generates a bill 24 for each consumer account havinga positive or negative account balance, or transactions in the billingcycle which yielded a zero balance. As used herein, a “biller” is anyparty that originates bills or statements for goods or services renderedto the consumer. Examples of billers are: utilities, government,merchants, and intermediate billing services such as banks.

In addition to the bill, the biller 22 creates remittance information 26which associates the bill and any payment toward the bill with theconsumer account. The remittance information 26 usually includes anaccount number, an account balance, an amount due, the date due, and anyadditional data that the biller might need to link the payment to theaccount. The remittance information 26 is typically in the form of adetachable stub or coupon which the consumer is requested to detach fromthe bill statement and return along with the payment.

The biller 22 prints the bill 24 and remittance information 26 on apaper statement, encloses the statement in an envelope, and mails theenvelope to a consumer 28 using the U.S. postal service. The phaseconcerning preparation and mailing of the bill is referred to as the“bill presentment” phase.

To pay the bill, the consumer 28 usually writes a check 30 which directspayment to the biller 22. The payment may partially or filly satisfy theamount due in the bill. The consumer 28 also fills out paymentinformation on the remittance stub 26, such as amount paid, paymentdate, and account number (if not already on the stub). The consumer 28encloses the stub 26 and check 30 in an envelope (often, pre-addressed)and mails it back to the biller using, once again, the U.S. postalservice. This phase of writing the check and mailing it back to thebiller is referred to as the “bill remittance” phase.

Over 5.1 billion pieces of bill-related first class mail are mailed eachmonth using the U.S. postal service. At a cost of $0.32 to $3.50 perpiece of mail (including paper, printing and processing costs, etc.),with an average cost of $0.50, the delivery mechanism of the traditionalpaper-based bill presentment and bill remittance system is expensive.Remittance adds another $0.11 to $0.65 per bill. It would be desirableto reduce the delivery cost of the bill presentment and payment system.

A drawback to the paper-based system 20 is that it is out-dated in anage where most billers use automated, computer-based accounting systemsand a growing number of consumers have computers which could be used toimprove the bill delivery, remittance, and settlement process. It is anarchaic process to require billers to generate paper bills andremittance stubs from a computerized system, rely on the consumers tomanually fill out remittance information and properly return the stubs,and then enter the hand written information from the remittance stubsinto the computer system to continue tracking the account. The cost toprocess paper-based remittance information is very high and must beincurred by the biller. For large volume operations, the remittanceprocessing tasks of opening envelopes, scanning the account number onthe payment stub (e.g. bar coded number), and MICR (Magnetic InkCharacter Recognition) encoding the check amount is automated. Largevolume billers may have their own automated remittance processingoperation, whereas smaller volume billers have the option of contractingwith services to perform these duties or performing them manually.

The biller has an incentive to reduce the cost of remittance processing.If all goes well, the cost to process each remittance is comparativelysmall. Not infrequently, however, errors arise in this paper-basedmechanical/human system. The most common source of error rests with theconsumer. The consumer might fill out the remittance stub incorrectly,or damage the stub by tearing across the bar coded account number, orsimply forget to return the stub, or return the stub of another biller.When such mistakes are made, the check must be manually processed by thebiller to associate the payment with the account. This dramaticallyincreases the cost of remittance processing. In some cases, it costs thebiller more to process the payment than the amount actually being paidby the consumer.

It would be desirable to create a bill presentment, remittance, andsettlement system that reduces the bill delivery and remittanceprocessing expenses, minimizes or eliminates manual resolution ofremittance-incomplete check payments, and improves cash flow and fundspredictability.

One prior art solution to reduce the amount of paper handling areso-called “direct debit” payment systems in which routine paymentamounts are automatically debited from the consumers bank account andcredited to the biller's bank account on agreed transaction dates. Thesesystems are used for routine payments, such as monthly home mortgagepayments, and can be used for payment of both fixed or variable amounts.Billers like the direct debit system because both the payment processingand remittance processing costs are very low, the error rate is verylow, and the cash flow is predictable as payments are automatically madeat the same time each period. Unfortunately, many consumers do not likethe direct debit system. Complaints registered by these consumersinclude a lack of control over their own bank accounts and thedifficulty of correcting mistakes made by the direct debit system, dueto a consumer changing bank accounts or biller accounts. Morespecifically, the consumers are concerned with loss of control over thepayment date and amount of the debit. In some businesses (such as creditcard companies), it might be inappropriate to impose certain paymentamounts in which significant revenues would be lost if consumers paidthe full amount of the bill every month.

With the growing popularity and use of personal finance computersoftware, some electronic-based payment systems have been proposed toalleviate the problems plaguing the traditional paper-based system. Ingeneral, these electronic systems are directed primarily to the billpayment phase, with little innovation to the bill presentment phase.Many of these systems still rely on the U.S. mail for delivery of thebills, and in many cases the return of payment instructions.

FIG. 2 shows a prior art electronic Bill Payment Service Provider (BPSP)system 40 operated by companies like CheckFree Corporation, IntuitServices Corporation, and VISA Interactive. The BPSP system 40 includesa biller 42, a consumer 44, a BPSP services unit (BSU) 46, BPSP bank 48,a biller bank 50, a consumer bank 52, and ACH (Automated Clearing House)network 54, and potentially other payment networks like RPS (RemittanceProcessing Service). The lockbox operation of processing paymentremittances is performed by either the biller, or a third partydesignated by the biller. In the illustrated implementation, a thirdparty concentrator (CT) 56 processes payment remittances, although thebank 50 itself may also be designated to perform the lockbox operation.

The ACH network is a nationwide system that processes electronicpayments on behalf of depository financial institutions. The ACH networkrepresents approximately 15,000 of the 20,000 financial institutions inthe United States. Although best thought of as a single network, the ACHnetwork actually consists of four interconnected networks owned andoperated by four ACH operators: the Federal Reserve, VISA, New York ACH(which provides regional coverage in New York), and Arizona ClearingHouse in conjunction with Deluxe Data (which provides regional coveragein Arizona). The ACH network is well-known in the art.

The methods for presenting and paying bills via existing BPSP systems 40is illustrated as a series of enumerated steps. The biller 42 sends apaper bill 60 through the US mail to the consumer 44 (step 1). To paythe bill 60, the consumer 44 sends payment instructions to the BPSPservices unit 46 by computer, or by telephone using an interactive voiceresponse system (step 2). At this point, the BPSP services unit 46 hasseveral choices:

1. Laser Draft. Print a laser demand check drawn on the consumer'saccount at the consumer bank 52 and send the laser demand check to thebiller 42 or concentrator 56. This process is illustrated as step 5,option D.

2. Partial Electronic. With this choice, the consumer account is debitedvia the ACH network 54 (step 4), but payment is remitted using acheck—either a bunch of payments lumped together as a check and list(step 5, Option C) or a single payment drawn on the BPSP bank accountfor the amount the consumer owes the biller (step 5, Option D).

3. Full Electronic. The consumer account is debited via the ACH network54 (step 4) and payment is made via the ACH network (Step 5, Option A)or other network, such as the RPS network (step 5, Option B).

U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 to Kight et al., which is assigned to CheckFreeCorporation, describes a system and method for determining which of thethree choices to make for different situations.

Assuming that a choice for partial or full electronic payment is made,the BPSP services unit 46 prepares ACH-ready and other paymentinstructions to its bank 48 (step 3). Using the ACH instructions, an ACHdebit transaction from the consumer bank account 52 is performed throughthe ACH network 54 (step 4). This ACH debit transaction effectivelymoves the authorized funds from the consumer bank account 52 to the BPSPbank 48.

At this point, a number of different options can be taken to transferpayment from the BPSP bank 48 to the biller bank 50 or the concentrator56. One possibility is to perform an ACH credit transaction through theACH network 54 from the BPSP account at bank 48 to the biller bankaccount 50 (step 5-option A). Another possibility is to perform an RPScredit transfer from the BPSP account at bank 48 to the biller bankaccount 50 or concentrator 56 (step 5-option B). A third option is forthe BPSP bank 48 to produce a single aggregated check drawn on the BPSPaccount and a list of all consumers making payments, and to send thecheck and list to the biller 42 or concentrator 56 (step 5-option C).

The current BPSP system has several drawbacks One drawback is that itonly addresses the payment phase, leaving no improvement to the billpresentment phase. For instance, the check & list option simply returnsone aggregate check along with a list of paying consumers and theamounts they paid. The biller is required to go back and manually enterthis information into its computer system. This yields an unacceptablyhigh error rate and is expensive. Another drawback is that the consumerdoes not know ahead of time when his/her account will actually bedebited. This is because the funds for bill payment are usuallywithdrawn from the consumer account several days before they receiveposting credit from the biller. It generally takes longer to postpayments made by check & list or laser draft because they are exceptionsto a company's remittance procedure. This late posting periodically willresult in undesired late charges to consumers.

FIG. 3 shows a prior art electronic bill payment system 90 proposed byVisa International. This system 90 is described in U.S. Pat. No.5,465,206, entitled “Electronic Bill Pay System” issued Nov. 7, 1995.The Visa system 90 includes a biller 92, a consumer 94, a biller bank96, a consumer bank 98, a settlement bank 100, and a payment network102. The payment network 102 is described in the patent as being theVisaNet® network.

A method for presenting and paying bills using the Visa bill pay system90 is illustrated as a series of enumerated steps. The biller 92 sends abill 104 by U.S. mail or email (step 1). The bill 104 includes a uniquebiller reference number (BRN). To pay the bill 104, the consumer 94transmits to consumer bank 98 a transaction indicating an amount to pay,the source of funds, a date on which to make the payment, the consumer'saccount number with biller, and the biller's BRN (step 2).

The consumer bank 98 submits an electronic payment message to billerbank 96 via the payment network 102 (step 3). The payment messageincludes a bank identification number for consumer bank 98, a bankidentification number for biller bank 96, the biller's BRN, theconsumer's account number with biller, an amount to be paid, and animplicit guarantee of consumer bank 98 to provide funds to coverpayment.

Settlement is achieved using the standard processes over the paymentnetwork, and particularly, via the VisaNet® network for Visa sponsoringbanks and the RPS network for non-Visa sponsoring banks (step 4). Aftersettlement, the biller bank 96 passes an accounts receivable (A/R) fileto the biller 92 to indicate which payments were received by the billerbank on behalf of the biller (step 5). The A/R file lists individualpayments received in correlation to the consumer accounts numbers.

The Visa bill pay system 90 has a limitation in that the biller haslittle or no control over the format concerning how the bill ispresented to the consumer or how the remittance information is to bereturned. Instead, the biller conforms to requirements imposed by Visaand accommodates a format of the A/R file received from the biller bank.While it may be possible for the biller and biller bank to agree on adata format for the little amount of data included in the A/R file, theformat cannot be independently controlled by the biller. Additionally,the biller does not have exclusive control over the type or quantity ofinformation that is ultimately remitted back.

The limitations imposed on the biller are a result of requiring theremittance information to be routed back through the banks and VisaNet®network before it is downloaded to the biller. The information must flowfrom the consumer 94 directly to the consumer bank 98, then over ahighly structured payment network 102 having strict rules as to format,content, timing, and so forth, and then onto the biller bank 96. As aresult, the biller bank 96 only receives the data supported by theVisaNet® network, and is thus restricted to only this data for inclusionin the A/R file to be downloaded to the biller.

It is further noted that all of the above electronic systems in FIGS.2-3 have a drawback in that the biller must send a paper bill, or anelectronic message, that conforms at least in part to requirementsimposed by the supporting system. The biller is not free to create itsown format and appearance for the bill, nor is the biller free to createthe content and format of the remittance information.

It would be advantageous to devise a bill presentment and payment systemthat enables the biller to directly control the format for presentingthe bill, the format for receiving any remittance information, and anyother content to be sent to the consumer.

Another design consideration for a bill presentment and payment systemis that many billers already have established sophisticated, expensiveaccounting systems. It would be beneficial to devise a bill presentmentand payment system that integrates smoothly with entrenched accountingsystems so that companies are not required to change their traditionalways of practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention concerns a bill presentment and payment remittance systemfor use over an electronic network, and particularly the Internet. Thebill presentment and payment remittance system allows the biller tocreate a bill and payment remittance information in any desired formatthe biller chooses. The biller submits the bill and associated paymentremittance information by electronically transmitting it over theInternet to the consumer. The bill is presented to the consumer througha user interface (UI).

According to an aspect of this invention, the exact information andformat contained in the bill is controlled by the biller. For example,the UI for certain types of bills can provide a line-by-line itemizationof the bill, along with predefined dispute reasons which the consumercan check to challenge particular items on the bill. The bill can thenbe automatically or manually adjusted to reflect any disputed amounts.The UI also permits the consumer to open dialog boxes to more fullyexplain reasons for disputing a bill, or to change an address, or tosubmit other types of communication. The UI might also includeadvertisements and hyperlinks to target resources, such as Web sites onthe Internet.

Unlike existing direct debit arrangements, the consumer is in directcontrol of the amount to be paid and the payment date as well as whichaccount they wish to use to pay the bill (assuming they have more thanone account). The consumer specifies the payment date and the dollaramount to be paid. The consumer can make partial or full payment towardthe bill balance. The consumer exercises control of the paymentremittance process every time a payment is made. The payee, however, isautomatically designated as the biller so that payment back to thebiller's account is guaranteed. In this manner, the bill remittancephase is merchant initiated.

The electronic payment entered by the consumer is associated with thepayment remittance information so that when the payment remittanceinformation is returned to the biller, it will include thepayment-specific data originally defined by the biller when they createdthe electronic bill. Payment instructions authorized by the consumer aretransmitted over the Internet back to the biller or an intermediaryservice to initiate payment of the bill. The payment remittanceinformation is transmitted in the biller prescribed format back over theInternet to the biller. In this manner, the payment remittanceinformation is automatically returned directly to the biller in the sameformat that the biller designated, without intervention by the consumer,the carrier network, or any other intermediaries.

Accordingly, the process is beneficial to both parties. The billerinitiates the payment process by submitting a bill that is designed tosupport automatic remittance processing while minimizing or eliminatingopportunities for a payer to induce errors that would detrimentally slowthe remittance processing. The consumer is in complete control of thepayment timing and amount, having exclusive authority to make full orpartial payment, or to forego payment altogether.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a traditional paper-based billpresentment and payment system.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a prior art electronic billpayment systems operated by companies like CheckFree Corporation.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a prior art electronic billpayment system proposed by Visa International.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a bill presentment and paymentsystem according to one implementation of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for electronically presenting andpaying bills using the FIG. 4 system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a consumer's computer used in the FIG. 4system.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of a graphical user interfacewindow of a bill presentment and payment application executing on theconsumer's computer, showing an example format for presenting a bill toa consumer.

FIG. 8 is an example illustration of a graphical user interface windowshowing a billing statement for a fictitious company as it arrives at aconsumer's computer.

FIG. 9 is the billing statement of FIG. 8, but shown after a consumerhas made adjustments for disputed items.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of a graphical user interfacewindow of an implied check that is presented to the consumer as part ofthe payment process.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic illustration of a bill presentment and paymentsystem according to another implementation of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic illustration of a bill presentment and paymentsystem according to still another implementation of this invention.

The same reference numbers are used throughout the figures to referencelike components and features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 4 shows a bill presentment and payment remittance & settlementsystem 110 according to a first implementation of this invention. Thesystem 110 includes a biller 112, a consumer 114, and a network 116. Thebill presentment and payment system 110 is an electronic, computerizedsystem having computing units at the biller 112 and consumer 114. Forconvenience, the pair of terms “biller” and “biller computing unit,” aswell as the pair of terms “consumer” and “consumer computing unit,” willbe used interchangeably throughout this disclosure and referenced by thesame numbers. A detailed discussion of an exemplary implementation of aconsumer computing unit is described below and depicted in FIG. 6.

The network 116 is an electronic data network. One preferredimplementation is a public network, and particularly, the Internet. TheInternet is a network formed by the cooperative interconnection ofcomputing networks, including local and wide area networks. Itinterconnects computers from around the world with existing and evenincompatible technologies by employing common protocols that smoothlyintegrate the individual and diverse components.

The bill presentment and payment system 110 includes a biller bank 122that maintains the biller's account. In this implementation, aconcentrator 120 is also illustrated to perform the lockbox operations.The lockbox functions can be performed by either the biller or a thirdparty designated by the biller, such as the biller bank, a differentbank, or another non-bank entity.

The bill and presentment system 110 further includes a consumer bank 124which manages the consumer's account. Other depository financialinstitutions, such as a brokerage firm with checking privileges, may besubstituted for the consumer bank 124 within this system. The billerbank 122 and consumer bank 124 are connected to a clearing network 126,such as the ACH network.

FIG. 5 shows a method for electronically presenting and paying billsusing the system 110. As one implementation, the steps are performed insoftware executing at the biller computing unit 112 and the consumercomputing unit 114. Other software components might also reside at thebiller bank 122 (and/or concentrator 120) and the consumer bank 124.

At step 150, the biller's software executing at the biller computingunit 112 generates a bill 128 and associated payment remittanceinformation 130 according to a format created entirely by the biller.This is advantageous because the biller can customize the bill andremittance information to include any type of data that it wants.Additionally, the bill and payment remittance information can bespecifically formatted for compatibility with the biller's existingaccounting software. Another advantage is that the bill can beartistically designed to present an appearance unique to the biller.

The bill 128 might be implemented simply as a static data structurewhich holds pertinent data related to the account and billing matters,as well as any remittance data desired by the biller. This datastructure is passed between the biller computing unit and the consumercomputing unit and utilized by the software components running on thesecomputing units. The bill 128 might alternatively be constructed withadditional features, such as embedded hyperlinks, pop-up dialog boxes,or pop-up advertisements. The bill 128 might further be constructed as asophisticated application, having executable code and other features, inaddition to the basic data structure. These aspects are described belowin more detail with reference to FIGS. 7-10.

At step 152 in FIG. 5, the biller computing unit 112 sends the bill128,and payment remittance information 130 across the public network 116to the consumer computing unit 114 (as illustrated by arrow 132 in FIG.4). The biller computing unit 112 can also include non-billing materialsto the bill, such as regulatory notices, warnings, or advertisements.The biller computing unit 112 might optionally digitally sign the billand payment remittance information before transmission. A digitalsignature is often used to verify the source of information on a networksuch as the Internet.

The consumer computing unit 114 receives the bill 128 and remittanceinformation 130 from the network 116. In one implementation, the billand remittance information arrive in the form of an email message or anotification for the consumer to check a billing mailbox to retrieveelectronic bills. A bill presentment and payment software applicationresiding on the consumer computing unit 114 is opened to facilitatepresenting and paying the bill. This application might be openedautomatically upon receipt of the bill, or in response to the consumeractivating the bill email message (for example, by using a mouse topoint to and double left-click on the bill message). The consumercomputing unit 114 might further be configured to authenticate thebiller's signature, if one is attached, to ensure that the bill is trulyfrom the biller and not an impostor trying to covertly extract moneyfrom the consumer.

FIG. 6 shows the consumer computing unit 114 in more detail. It has anetwork port 170 which facilitates access to the network 116. Thenetwork port might be implemented, for example, as a modem for dialingup an Internet access provider, or as a network card, ISDN modem, etc.The consumer computing unit 114 also has a processor 172, a programmemory 174, a data memory 176, an input device 178 (e.g., keyboard,mouse, track ball, stylus, voice recognition, etc.), and a display 180.As an example, the consumer computing unit 114 can be implemented as aconventional personal computer (PC) or portable computer. The computercomponents 170-180 are interconnected by an electronic interconnectstructure 182 which consists of parallel and serial conductors, such asSCSI-, PCI-, and RS 232-compatible conductors. A bill presentment andpayment (BPP) application 184 is stored in program memory 174 andexecutes on the processor 172 to implement the user-based features ofthe BPP system.

The consumer's computer 114 runs an operating system 186 which supportsmultiple applications. The operating system is stored on the memory 174and executes on the processor 172. The operating system is preferably amultitasking operating system which allows simultaneous execution ofmultiple applications, although aspects of this invention may beimplemented using a single-tasking operating system. The operatingsystem employs a graphical user interface windowing environment whichpresents the applications or documents in specially delineated areas ofthe display screen called “windows.” Each window has its own adjustableboundaries which enable the user to enlarge or shrink the application ordocument relative to the display screen. Each window can actindependently, including its own menu, toolbar, pointers, and othercontrols, as if it were a virtual display device. One preferredoperating system is a Windows® brand operating system sold by MicrosoftCorporation, such as Windows® 95 or Windows NT™ or other derivativeversions of Windows®. However, other operating systems which providewindowing environments may be employed, such as the Macintosh OS fromApple Corporation and the OS/2 Presentation Manager from IBM. The BPPapplication 184 runs on the operating system 186.

The bill 128 and payment remittance information 130 are received at thenetwork port 170 and stored in data memory 176 within a data structure190. The data structure 190 has several data fields which containinformation specified by the biller and other data fields reserved tohold data entered by the consumer. Some of the data fields are static orclosed fields in that the consumer is prohibited from altering the datakept in those fields. Other data fields are dynamic or open fields whichallow the consumer to supply the data or alter the existing data. Thespecific construction of the data structure 190 is defined by thebiller, with the FIG. 6 construction being one possible example.

In the illustrated example, the bill and remittance data structure 190includes a payee data field 192 which contains the name of the payee orpayment recipient. The payee is automatically set to be the biller. Thepayee field is closed so that the consumer cannot overwrite the payee.In this manner, the payment instructions ultimately authorized by theconsumer will automatically recite the biller as the payee.

The data structure 190 includes an account identification data field 194to hold information identifying the consumer's account to which the billis being posted. This field is also closed to the consumer.

The data structure 190 has an open amount data field 196 and an opendate data field 198 to hold a payment amount and a payment date enteredby a consumer. Other data fields might also be included in the datastructure, such as a closed account balance data field 200 whichreflects the current balance owed by the consumer and a closed consumername data field 202 which holds the consumer's name.

The data fields are organized according to a particular formatprescribed by the biller. Some of the fields are canonical, such as thedate due and amount—so that the system can readily “know” about thesefields. Other fields—like itemized details, past payments, etc.—aredefined by the biller and are semantically transparent to the system.Some of these data fields are used as the payment remittance informationto be returned to the biller. Preferably, the remittance informationcontains at least the account number from data field 194, the amountpaid which is held in amount data field 196, and the date payment is tobe made which is held in date data field 198. The data structure 190might also include a biller address data field 204 to hold a networkaddress of the biller. This address is used to route the designatedpayment remittance information back to the biller, as is described belowin more detail. Optionally, depending on security requirements of theparticular biller, a digital certificate of the consumer authorizing thepayment would also be returned back to the biller to enableauthentication of the payment instruction.

At step 154 of FIG. 5, the BPP application 184 residing on theconsumer's computing unit 114 presents the bill 128 to the consumer viathe display 180. The BPP application 184 gathers presentation data fromthe bill data structure 190 and displays the presentation data within aunique graphical user interface designed by the biller. The bill 128also contains structured data in addition to presentation data.Structured data is not used in the viewable display rendering of thebill, but remains hidden as part of the bill file. Examples ofstructured data includes remittance data, transactions details, and thelike.

The biller controls what information and the particular format that thebill is presented to the consumer. The bill may be formatted in aparticular manner that allows the remittance information to seamlesslyintegrated with the biller's reconciliation process. The bill may definethe nature, semantics, and format of other information/data items thatthe biller would like returned as part of the electronic remittance inaddition to the standard data used to reconcile a statement. Forexample, the biller might like to collect from the consumer items ofdispute, comments, advertising responses, response forms (e.g., signingup for a new service), purchasing (e.g., buying something advertised),and the like.

FIG. 7 shows a spatial outline of one example bill presentment graphicaluser interface (UI) screen 210 which organizes and aestheticallypresents the presentation data from the bill. FIG. 8 shows a realisticexample of the bill presentment UI screen 210 showing a billingstatement for a fictitious company Crown Home Improvement Center. The UIscreen is generated by the BPP application 184 and shown on the display180 to present the bill to the consumer. In this example, the billpresentment UI 210 has a banner stripe 212 across the top of the screento show the biller's name, logo, address, telephone number, and anyother business or vanity information about the biller. The banner strip212 also includes the consumer name and account number, or otherrelevant data pertaining to the consumer. The banner strip may also bepartitioned to allow re-use of parts of the bill interface for thirdparty advertising purposes, as represented by partitioned area 213.

The bill presentment UI 210 has a main body portion 214 which containsthe billing particulars, such as the line items, the individual amountsfor each item, and a total amount due and payable. In the FIG. 8example, the main body portion 214 lists individual line items for eachpurchase at Crown Home Improvement Center, with each line itemcontaining the purchase date, purchase order number, invoice number,item number, description of item, quantity, price, total, tax, andamount due.

One of the features of the bill presentment UI 210 is that it providesan easy forum for the consumer to evaluate and challenge certainportions of the bill. It is common that a consumer might want tochallenge a line item on the bill. For instance, the bill might includea tax on an item that is used for a non-taxable purpose; or the billmight include an item that has not yet been received by the consumer, orthe bill might include an item that the consumer returned. Under presentpractices, if a consumer wishes to dispute part of the bill or remove anitem, the consumer must call the billing company and discuss the matterwith a representative, and/or possibly submit a written letterexplaining why the bill is inaccurate. This technique is time consuming,inconvenient to the consumer, expensive for the biller, and can induceerrors if the partial payment submitted by the consumer is not properlymatched up with the appropriate items being paid and those items beingchallenged.

The bill presentment UI 210 can be constructed with appropriate controlswhich enable a user to dispute an item. As an example, the billpresentment UI 210 might contain additional columns which categorizepre-set reasons for challenging a billing items, such as tax exemptstatus, or the product has not been received, or the item has beenreturned, or payment was previously made, and so forth. With thisarrangement, the consumer simply places a “mark” in the appropriatecolumn adjacent to the item. Upon insertion of the mark, the billpresentment UI 210 dynamically adjusts the bill to reflect theconsumer's challenges. The bill contains both dynamic data, which can bemodified by the consumer inputs, and static data which cannot bemodified.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an example of the line item feature in the billingstatement for Crown Home Improvement Center. FIG. 8 shows the billingstatement as it originally arrives at the consumer. The billingstatement includes an “amount due” column 216 which lists the amount duefor each item purchased from Crown (e.g., the quantity purchased timesthe prices per unit, plus tax) and an “amount paid” column 218 whichlists the amount paid for each item. When the bill arrives, the data inthe amount paid column 218 is dynamic data which is initially set equalto the static data found in the amount due column 216.

Next to these columns are three columns of pre-arranged dispute reasonsfor non-payment or partial payment of an item. The dispute columnsinclude a “tax exempt” column 220 which is checked if the item shouldnot have been taxed, a “special order” column 222 which is checked ifthe product has been ordered but not yet received, and a “no receipt”column 224 which is checked if the consumer has not yet received thegoods. With this bill format, the consumer can examine each purchase,line by line. If the consumer desires to challenge an item, the consumersimply clicks or otherwise selects the appropriate column cell.

FIG. 9 shows the bill presentment UI 210 after the consumer has disputedfour of the items. Upon clicking the appropriate cell, the billpresentment UI 210 places a visible “check mark” in the appropriatecell. Where possible, the bill presentment UI 210 automatically adjuststhe amount paid column 218 to reflect the disputed amount. For example,when the consumer checks the tax exempt column 220 and the billpresentment UI 210 automatically deducts the tax from the amount paidcolumn 218. In some cases, however, the consumer inputs the correctedamount paid to reflect the disputed amount. In this example, theconsumer deducted part of the amount due for one-half of an order inwhich the consumer has not received the goods.

The bill might also be designed to enable a consumer to open a dialogbox in conjunction with a disputed item. The consumer can write adetailed explanation for the challenge in the dialog box. When theconsumer finishes and closes the dialog box, the text is saved andincluded in the remittance information to be returned to the biller.

The ability to check predefined reasons for disputing a particular itemof the bill, or to enter an explanation electronically through a dialogbox, significantly improves the efficiency of communication between thebiller and consumer, and potentially reduces or eliminates wastefulnon-electronic communication between them. Additionally, since thedisputes are automatically associated with the particular billing item,the process leads to a more efficient remittance process.

With reference again to FIG. 7, the bill presentment UI 210 has multiplesoftkeys or buttons 226 which form tabbed navigation points to enabledifferent functions within the BPP application 184 or to facilitatequick movement from one section of the bill to another. One examplesoftkey is a “pay” button 228 which allows a consumer to activate apayment remittance graphical UI screen, an example of which is shown inFIG. 10. Another is a “Details” tab 230 which jumps to the itemizeddetails of the particular bill. FIG. 8 shows an example set of buttons,including a bill summary tab, a details tab, a previous screen tab, anext screen tab, a pay now button.

The bill presentment UI 210 also includes an “other invoices” button 229which, when activated, pops up a list of other invoices. Upon activationof the “other invoices” button 229, the bill presentment UI 210 cyclesamong multiple bills from the same or different billers. For example,the consumer might wish to bundle all of the bills received each monthand pay them at the same time.

Other softkeys may be disposed at other places in the bill UI 210. Forinstance, a “change of address” button 232 is positioned in the banner212. Upon activation of this button, a dialog box appears atop the UI210 for the consumer to enter a new address. This new information isreturned to the biller along with the remittance information to updatethe biller's records. Since the data fields are predefined by thebiller, the biller software can be configured to receive the change ofaddress and automatically update the consumer's address.

An example of another softkey is a customer service button 234 which,upon activation, dials a customer services representative over theInternet. The consumer can then initiate an online discussion with thecustomer services representative.

In addition to softkeys, the bill presentment UI 210 might furtherinclude executable hyperlinks which are supplied as part of the billfrom the biller. The hyperlinks can be inserted anywhere, and are setoff in conventional fashion by boldface type, graphical icon, and/orunderlining. A consumer activates or “follows” a hyperlink by clickingon or otherwise selecting the icon or keywords. Activating a link causesthe biller UI to initiate another application, such as an Internet Webbrowser, to retrieve and render the document or resource that istargeted by the hyperlink.

Consider the following examples of embedded hyperlinks. A bill statementfor a cable television service provider might include a hyperlink to avideo trailer for an upcoming movie. The consumer activates the link anda remote server retrieves the video trailer from the target resource andsends the video file to the consumer computer for display. As anotherexample, a bill statement might include a hyperlink which invites theconsumer to purchase items that are on sale. As another example, a billstatement for an automobile lease might contain an advertisement of anew vehicle with a hyperlink to a target resource containing moreinformation about the vehicle.

The bill presentment UI 210 containing hyperlinks is constructed using a“markup language.” “SGML” (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is onesuch language, defined formally as “a language for documentrepresentation that formalizes markup and frees it of system andprocessing dependencies.” SGML is a language for describing thestructure of documents and for describing a tagging scheme to delineatethat structure within text. Documents compatible with the world wide webor “WWW” or “Web” utilize a subset of SGML called “HTML” (HypertextMarkup Language). An HTML textual document can be thought of as plaintext that contains formatting instructions in the form of HTML markupcodes or “tags.” Tags tell rendering software (e.g., Web browsers) howto render and print documents, and are also used to specify hyperlinks.

In concept, the target of a hyperlink can be virtually any type ofobject—including executable programs, text or multimedia documents,sound clips, audio segments, still images, computers, directories, andother hyperlinks. In WWW documents, hyperlink targets are most oftenfiles that can reside on any computers connected to the Internet.However, a hyperlink target can also be a particular location within adocument, including the document that is currently being rendered.

Hypertext usage is not limited to the Internet. Various multimediaapplications utilize hypertext to allow users to navigate throughdifferent pieces of information content. For instance, an encyclopediaprogram might use hyperlinks to provide cross-references to relatedarticles within an electronic encyclopedia. The same program might alsouse hyperlinks to specify remote information resources such as WWWdocuments located on different computers.

At step 156 in FIG. 5, the consumer is granted complete control toauthorize payment of the bill, assuming the bill is in order. After theconsumer has reviewed each item and made all of the adjustments, thebill presentment UI 210 shows a summary block (referenced as number 236in FIG. 8) with the total amount due, the total amount to be paid by theconsumer following adjustments, and the total amount in dispute. Theconsumer activates the “pay” button 228, which calls the paymentremittance graphical UI screen.

FIG. 10 shows an example payment remittance UI screen 240. In thisexample, the payment remittance UI 240 resembles a customary checkhaving the consumer's name and/or account number, a date line, a payeeline, a dollar amount line, a written amount line, and a signature line.The payee line is automatically filled in using data from the closedpayee data field 192 of the data structure 190 stored in the consumer'scomputer memory. This line cannot be altered by the consumer, which isadvantageous from the biller perspective because the check is akin to adirect deposit in that the authorized payment is assured to go to thebiller's account.

However, unlike a direct debit arrangement, the consumer is in directcontrol of the amount to be paid and the payment date (step 158 in FIG.5) as well as which account they wish to use to pay the bill (assumingthey have more than one account). The consumer can make partial or fullpayment toward the bill balance. In one implementation, the payment dateline of the payment remittance UI 240 initially defaults to the datethat the consumer depressed the “pay” button 228 on the bill presentmentUI 210. Additionally, the dollar amount line of the payment remittanceUI 240 initially defaults to the amount to be paid in summary 236provided in the bill presentment UI 210, which reflects any adjustmentsmade by the consumer. However, the consumer can override these defaultsby entering a different payment date and dollar amount using the paymentremittance UI 240. This information is stored respectively in thepayment date data field 198 and the amount data field 196 of the datastructure 190. If desired, the payment date can be configured to defaultto the date payment is actually due, with the ability for the consumerto override the date. Empowering the consumer with complete control ofthe payment amount and date is advantageous from the consumerperspective. The consumer feels in control of the payment process, inthe same manner as writing personal paper checks. The payment remittanceinformation to be returned to the biller is automatically prepared whenthe consumer fills in the payment UI 240.

The BPP application 184, which supports the bill presentment UI 210 andpayment UI 240, can be configured to integrate with commerciallyavailable personal finance manager (PFM) software, such as the PFMprogram “Money” produced by Microsoft Corporation. The BPP application184 can also be configured to integrate with bill analysis software orbusiness accounting software (e.g., Peachtree, SAP, etc.) which permitsautomatic posting of accounting/transaction data while the bill is beingpaid. The BPP application 184 can be further configured to transfer datato other applications executing on the consumer's computing unit, suchas a spreadsheet application like Excel from Microsoft Corporation.

As an alternative, the bill itself might contain executable code thatallows a consumer to analyze the bill or obtain greater understanding ofone bill, or a bundle of bills. For example, the bill might containexecutable code similar to the auto calculate feature in the Excelspreadsheet program in which the consumer can select certain items andthe bill computes in response a temporary value (e.g., sum, max, min,etc.) using only the selected items.

Accordingly, the payment process is beneficial to both parties. Thebiller initiates the payment process by submitting a bill that isautomatically designed to be paid back to its own coffers in a formatthe biller's systems already understand and for which no changes arerequired. The consumer is in complete control of the payment timing andamount, having exclusive authority to overpay, make full or partialpayment, or to forego payment altogether.

After the consumer has filled out the payment instruction, the data forthe payment and remittance information is associated through the datastructure 190 (step 160 in FIG. 5). That is, the payment amount in datafield 196 and payment date in data field 198 are linked inherentlythrough the data structure to the payee in data field 192 and theconsumer account number in data field 194. The consumer can select thepayment account for data field 194. For instance, the consumer may havemore than one account, including checking accounts and savings accounts.A bill could be paid from any of these accounts at the consumer'sdiscretion. The account designated by the consumer is included in thepayment instruction.

With reference again to FIG. 4 and to step 162 in FIG. 5, the consumercomputing unit 114 transmits the remittance information 130 directlyback to the biller 112 via network 116 (as represented by arrow 134 inFIG. 4). The consumer computing unit 114 uses the biller's networkaddress in address data field 204 of the data structure 190 toelectronically route the payment remittance information 130 to thebiller. Routing can be achieved in a variety of ways, including email,Internet URL addresses, and so forth. Since the payment remittanceinformation was created by the biller in a particular format, and theconsumer only filled in certain data fields, the payment remittanceinformation 130 remains in the biller prescribed format for seamlessintegration to the biller's existing accounting system. Moreover, thepayment remittance information is automatically returned to the billerwithout intervention by the consumer, except that the amount to be paidand the payment date are appended. The consumer may also attach anyadditional information, such as remittance advice notes, or textmessages relating to disagreements with invoice information or disputesover specific charges, or change of address data, or any communicationwith customer service representatives at the biller.

If the consumer selected any offering in the bill, such as through anadvertisement or the like, the remittance information will also includethis data. For example, suppose the bill includes an advertisement for anew service and offers three free months as an incentive to add theservice. If the consumer clicks to accept the service, the consumer'sname and address are returned with the remittance information. Thisdemographic information can then be used by the biller or offered tothird parties for future advertisement within the bill to target marketspecific consumers.

The consumer computing unit 114 also transmits payment instructions (PI)140 to initiate payment of the bill (step 164 in FIG. 5). The paymentinstructions include the amount to be paid, the consumer's method ofpayment, and any bank account numbers to draw against. The paymentinstructions may optionally include an authorization to permit theconsumer's bank to withdraw the funds from the consumer's account tocover payment. This authorization can be set up during a registrationstage when the consumer initially signs up for the service. By virtue ofthis pre-arrangement, the consumer authorizes the biller (through thebiller's bank) to issue debits against the customers' account at thecustomer's bank. In the FIG. 4 implementation, the payment instructions140 are sent back to the biller 112 over the network 116. Although shownseparately, the payment instructions 140 and remittance information 130are sent together as a single message, although they may be sentseparately.

It is noted that the biller and consumer computing units can beconfigured to encrypt the bill 128, remittance information 130, andpayment instructions 140 prior to dispatch over the network. TheInternet, for example, is an insecure network that is open toeavesdroppers. Conventional cryptographic ciphers can be used to encodethe financially sensitive data for protection over the network.Additionally, digital signatures can be used as a means forauthenticating the parties, and providing integrity that the messagesactually originated from the parties and have not been subsequentlyaltered. A more detailed discussion of a computer implemented encryptionand signing system can be found in a U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/496,801, filed Jun. 29, 1995, entitled “Cryptography System andMethod for Providing Cryptographic Services for a Computer Application,”by Terrence Spies et al., and assigned to Microsoft Corporation. Thisapplication is hereby incorporated by reference. For additionalinformation on cryptography and digital signing, the reader is directedto a text written by Bruce Schneier and entitled “Applied Cryptography:Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C,” published by John Wiley &Sons with copyright 1994 (second edition 1996), which is herebyincorporated by reference.

At step 166 in FIG. 5, the accounts for the consumer and biller aresettled using the settlement subsystem of the bill presentment andpayment system 110. In the FIG. 4 implementation, the biller 112forwards the payment instructions onto the biller bank 122 (asrepresented by arrow 136 in FIG. 4). The biller bank 122 requestssettlement with the consumer bank 124 via the clearing network 126. Asan example, the biller bank 122 submits an ACH debit transaction whichdebits the consumer's account in consumer bank 124 for the amount of thepayment authorized by the consumer (as represented by arrow 138 throughclearing network 126). Other specifics of the transaction or specialcase situations, such as funds reversals, are handled in conventionalmanner which are well understood in the art and are not describedherein.

The FIG. 4 implementation is beneficial in that the bill presentment andpayment process is conducted entirely electronically. Paper bills,conventional mail services, and envelop opening and encoding tacks arecompletely eliminated. Another benefit is that the biller customizes thetype and format of remittance information that it wants returned ratherthan conforming to a foreign format dictated by a bank, network, orother third party. This enables the biller to integrate the paymentremittance and presentment software with its existing accountingsoftware with minimal cost or interruption. The biller is responsiblefor initiating the billing process, while the consumer is empowered withthe authority to decide when and how much is paid. Another benefit isthat the system is compatible with existing clearing networks, such asthe ACH network. Billers that already have an existing direct debitoffering can piggyback ACH transactions from this system with minimaladditional changes. Another benefit of the bill presentment and paymentsystem described herein in comparison to a prior art direct debit systemis that the biller and consumer can change banks independent of eachother. Each party can simply register with a new bank, obtain newaccount numbers, and start using them without requiring changes by orcreating difficulties for the other party.

FIG. 11 shows another implementation of a bill presentment and paymentsystem in accordance with the invention, which is referenced generallyby number 250. System 250 differs from the system 110 described withrespect to FIG. 4 in that an intermediary 252 is interposed between thebiller 112 and consumer 114. The intermediary 252 is a bill presentmentand payment remittance service provider that handles billingresponsibilities for the biller and payment instructions remitted backfrom the consumers. The intermediary 252 acts as a centralized billwarehouse and delivery mechanism that offers one gathering place forboth billers and consumers. The intermediary 252 is equipped with acomputing unit that is programmed to electronically handle the bills,remittance information, payment instructions, and staging and deliveryinstructions on behalf of many different billers and many differentconsumers. The intermediary functions can also be split among multipleentities. For example, one company can stage the bills and anothercompany can handle the remittance processing. Other arrangements forhandling the intermediary functions are also possible.

The biller 112 sends bill 128 and remittance information 130 to theintermediary 252 for staging. The intermediary 252 transfers the billand remittance information to the appropriate consumers 114 at theprescribed billing times. Alternatively, the consumer 114 canperiodically access the intermediary 252 for bills in his/her name oraccount number. The electronic transmission is carried out over thenetwork 116.

The consumer reviews the bill, and if acceptable, authorizes payment. Inthe same manner as described above, the consumer enters the paymentamount and date using the payment UI, and submits the remittanceinformation 130 and payment instructions 140 back to the intermediary252 over the network 116. Remittance information bound for a specificbiller is pooled by the intermediary 252 and sent to that biller inbatch. The intermediary 252 also produces payment instructions 254 thatare in a file compatible with the clearing network 126. For instance,the PI254 might be in the form of an ACH-ready file used to settleaccounts in ACH networks.

The biller 112 passes the payment instructions onto a concentrator 120or biller bank 122. The biller bank 122 submits a debit transactionusing the clearing payment instructions generated by the intermediary252 to debit the consumer's account in consumer bank 124 for the amountof the payment authorized by the consumer.

FIG. 12 shows another implementation of a bill presentment and paymentsystem in accordance with the invention, which is referenced generallyby number 260. System 260 is essentially the same as system 250described above with respect to FIG. 11, with the primary differencebeing that the intermediary 252 sends the payment instructions (PI) 254directly to the biller bank 122 as opposed to the biller 112. Thiseliminates having the biller handle the payment instruction file. In avariation of this implementation, the intermediary can be configured tosubmit the payment instructions directly, or through its own bank (notshown), to the clearing network 126.

In compliance with patent statutes, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural and methodical features.It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited tothe specific features described, since the means herein disclosedcomprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. Theinvention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modificationswithin the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpretedin accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.

1. An apparatus for electronically presenting and remitting payment ofbills, comprising: means for generating a bill and associated paymentremittance information at a biller, the payment remittance informationbeing arranged within a data structure according to a format prescribedby the biller, the data structure having one or more open data fields tohold data that a consumer can enter or alter and one or more closed datafields to hold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittanceinformation further including hidden structured remittance data that iskept hidden from the consumer; means for electronically transmitting thebill and associated payment remittance information to the consumer;means for enabling the consumer to authorize electronic payment of thebill; means for associating the electronic payment with the paymentremittance information; and means for transmitting the paymentremittance information, including the structured remittance data, fromthe consumer back to the biller in the format prescribed by the biller.2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means forelectronically transmitting the bill and associated payment remittanceinformation over a network.
 3. An apparatus as recited in claim 1,further comprising means for electronically transmitting the bill andassociated payment remittance information over the Internet.
 4. Anapparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means forelectronically transmitting the bill and associated payment remittanceinformation from the biller to the consumer via at least oneintermediary.
 5. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprisingmeans for enabling the consumer to specify payment instructions forpaying the bill.
 6. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising means for enabling the consumer to specify an amount to bepaid on the bill.
 7. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising means for enabling the consumer to specify partial payment ofthe bill.
 8. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprisingmeans for enabling the consumer to specify a payment date.
 9. Anapparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means forautomatically designating a payee for the payment and prohibiting theconsumer from specifying a different payee.
 10. An apparatus as recitedin claim 1, further comprising means for making the payment authorizedby the consumer.
 11. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising means for settling accounts between the biller and consumer.12. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means forsubmitting the payment instructions from the biller to an ACH paymentsystem.
 13. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising meansfor transmitting non-billing messages along with the bill and paymentremittance information.
 14. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising means for encrypting the bill and payment remittanceinformation prior to transmission.
 15. An apparatus as recited in claim1, further comprising means for digitally signing the bill and paymentremittance information prior to transmission.
 16. An apparatus asrecited in claim 1, further comprising means for authenticating thebiller.
 17. An apparatus for electronically presenting and remittingpayment of bills, comprising: means for generating a bill and associatedpayment remittance information at a biller, the payment remittanceinformation being arranged within a data structure according to a formatprescribed by the biller, the data structure having one or more opendata fields to hold data that a consumer can supply or alter and one ormore closed data fields to hold data that the consumer cannot alter, theremittance information further including structured remittance data thatis kept hidden from the consumer; means for electronically transmittinga bill and associated payment remittance information from the biller toat least one intermediary; means for electronically transmitting thebill and payment remittance information from the intermediary to theconsumer; means for presenting the bill to the consumer withoutrevealing the structured remittance data; means for enabling theconsumer to specify payment instructions which include at least one of apayment amount and a payment date; means for electronically transmittingthe payment instructions and payment remittance information from theconsumer to the intermediary; and means for electronically transmittingthe payment remittance information, including the structured remittancedata, from the intermediary back to the biller in the format prescribedby the biller; and means for settling accounts between the consumer andbiller using the payment instructions.
 18. An apparatus as recited inclaim 17, wherein the payment instructions and payment remittanceinformation from the consumer to the intermediary and the paymentremittance information, including the structured remittance data, fromthe intermediary back to the biller are transmitted over an electronicdata network.
 19. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, furthercomprising means for settling the accounts through a clearing network.20. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, further comprising means forencrypting the bill and payment remittance information prior totransmission.
 21. An apparatus recited in claim 17, further comprisingmeans for digitally signing the bill and payment remittance informationprior to transmission.
 22. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, furthercomprising means for authenticating the biller.
 23. An apparatus asrecited in claim 17, further comprising: means for generating accountclearing instructions at the intermediary; and means for electronicallytransmitting the account clearing instructions to the biller.
 24. Anapparatus as recited in claim 17, further comprising: means forgenerating account clearing instructions at the intermediary; and meansfor electronically transmitting the account clearing instructions to abank handling the biller's account.
 25. An apparatus as recited in claim17, further comprising: means for generating clearing instructions atthe intermediary account; and means for electronically transmitting theaccount clearing instructions to an account clearing network.
 26. Asystem comprising: means for storing a bill and associated paymentremittance information, the payment remittance information beingarranged within a data structure according to a format prescribed by thebiller, the data structure having one or more open data fields to holddata that a consumer can supply or alter and one or more closed datafields that hold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittanceinformation further including structured remittance data that is kepthidden from the consumer; means for presenting the bill to the consumerwithout revealing the structured remittance data; means for enabling theconsumer to specify payment instructions including at least one of anamount to be paid on the bill, a payment date, and an account from whichto draw payment, while prohibiting the consumer from altering datacontained in the closed data fields; means for associating the paymentinstructions with the structured remittance data; means forelectronically transmitting the payment instructions to initiate paymentof the bill; and means for electronically routing the payment remittanceinformation, including the structured remittance data, in the billerprescribed format to the biller so that the structured remittance datais automatically returned to the biller without intervention by theconsumer.
 27. A system as recited in claim 26, further comprising meansfor enabling the consumer to specify both the amount to be paid and thepayment date.
 28. A system as recited in claim 26, further comprisingmeans for enabling the consumer to specify a partial payment of thebill.
 29. A system as recited in claim 26, further comprising means forpresenting the bill to the consumer through a graphical user interface.30. An electronic bill presentment and payment remittance systemincluding a network, a biller computing unit with computer-readablemedium, and a consumer computing unit with computer readable medium, thecomputer-readable media having computer-executable componentscomprising: means for operatively linking the biller computing unit andconsumer computing unit to the network; means for generating a bill andassociated payment remittance information in a particular format at thebiller computing unit, the remittance information including structuredremittance data that is kept hidden from a consumer; means fortransmitting the bill and payment remittance information over the datanetwork from the biller computing unit to the consumer computing unit;means for receiving the bill and payment remittance information at theconsumer computing unit and presenting the bill to the consumer withoutrevealing the structured remittance data to the consumer; and means forfacilitating entry of payment instructions including at least one of apayment amount and a date at the consumer computing unit, and followingsaid entry, automatically routing the payment remittance information,including the structured remittance data, in the particular format tothe biller computing unit.
 31. An electronic bill presentment andpayment remittance system as recited in claim 30, wherein thecomputer-readable media further includes a computer-executable componentcomprising means for transmitting the payment instructions from theconsumer computing unit over the network to initiate payment of thebill.